Incidents and actions from tracked entities.
Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined TikTok €530 million (€485M for data transfer violations, €45M for transparency failures) after finding TikTok transferred EEA user data to China without adequate safeguards. TikTok also admitted it had provided inaccurate information to the inquiry, revealing EU data had been stored on Chinese servers contrary to its own evidence. Third-largest GDPR fine ever and first EU data transfer fine involving China.
In May 2025, Baillie Gifford, Jumia's largest investor, completely liquidated its entire position after gradually reducing ownership from 10% to 9.2% to 7.4% in 2024. The final block was sold around $2.5 per share, representing an estimated 80-90% capital loss from the original purchase price in the mid-$20s. Q1 2025 revenue dropped 26% with only $110 million left in cash reserves. Jumia faced a $66 million operating loss in 2024.
SAP CEO Christian Klein participated in a confidential CEO roundtable with President Trump, describing it as a 'constructive exchange' where Trump 'listens and gives feedback.' Klein stated he sits at the table because 'SAP plays a critical role in the US economy and public administration.'
In May 2025, Guillaume Pousaz switched his country of residence from the UK to Monaco, just a year after arriving in London from Dubai. The move allowed him to avoid changes to the UK's non-dom regime and increased taxes on capital gains introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Pousaz has an estimated net worth of $7.8 billion.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski publicly admitted that Klarna overestimated AI capabilities and the AI-driven transition negatively affected service quality. Customer ratings dipped and complaints increased. He conceded 'cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor' and announced rehiring humans.
Unlike Meta, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, Nvidia under Jensen Huang has not announced cuts to DEI programs as of May 2025. The company maintained its Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging initiatives in its 2024 Sustainability Report. However, Nvidia has decreased workforce diversity data transparency since 2022, lagging peers like AMD and Intel.
The UK Supreme Court refused Dyson's appeal in May 2025, allowing 24 migrant workers' forced labour claims to proceed in English courts. Workers from Nepal and Bangladesh alleged they were trafficked to Malaysia and subjected to forced labour, assault, false imprisonment, and debt bondage at ATA Industrial and Jabco factories which manufactured Dyson products. Workers earned as little as $10/day, had passports confiscated, lived in dormitories with up to 80 people per room, and some were jailed for visa irregularities. Dyson was notified by a whistleblower in 2019 but disputes knowledge. Trial set for April 2027. Leigh Day contacted by hundreds of additional potential claimants.
Waymo issued voluntary recall for vehicles with fifth-generation automated driving system following NHTSA investigation citing 16 collision reports with gates, chains, and barriers between December 2022 and 2024. No injuries reported. Software fix deployed by December 2024.
Founders Fund, co-founded by Palantir chairman Peter Thiel, has been a major investor in Palantir Technologies since its founding in 2003. Palantir built the ImmigrationOS platform for ICE, receiving a $30 million contract in 2025. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reported in January 2026 that ICE uses a Palantir tool that feeds on Medicaid and other government data to identify and track people for arrest. The American Immigration Council documented how the system enables mass surveillance of immigrant communities. Founders Fund's continued investment in and promotion of Palantir directly supports the expansion of government surveillance infrastructure.
In a May 2025 60 Minutes interview, Palmer Luckey publicly defended autonomous weapons that operate using AI without human control, arguing 'it is too morally fraught an area, it is too critical of an area to not apply the best technology available.' He directly opposed UN Secretary-General Guterres' call for a treaty banning autonomous lethal weapons by 2026, dismissing the concern. He also stated 'There's no moral high ground to making a land mine that can't tell the difference between a school bus full of children and Russian armor.' Anduril's systems include weapons that can identify, select, and engage targets autonomously.
In May 2025, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced it would end its statewide housing and homelessness investments in California by 2026, just one year after Priscilla Chan celebrated the initiative's five-year anniversary and its mission to 'improve housing affordability and promote racial equity.' CZI also laid off staff on its community team addressing affordable housing and economic inclusion. Grantee organizations lost significant funding; Juan Hernandez of Creser Capital Fund reported losing $500,000, roughly one-third of his nonprofit's funding.
Beginning in 2025, the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio pursued a policy of denying or revoking visas for foreign nationals -- including researchers, fact-checkers, and officials -- deemed to have been 'involved or complicit in censoring American citizens,' invoking a rarely-used INA provision on foreign-policy-related inadmissibility. The policy targeted individuals who had worked on content moderation, disinformation research, or pressured US tech platforms on content policy, and was later expanded to include enhanced social-media and work-history vetting for H-1B visa applicants. Groups including the Coalition for Independent Technology Research and several international students sued, arguing the policy was unconstitutionally vague and punished protected speech and research; in 2026 a federal judge (Boasberg) blocked enforcement on First Amendment grounds. The State Department defended the policy, saying 'an American visa is a privilege not a right,' and moved to dismiss the litigation.
In April 2025, Nigeria's Central Bank fined Paystack ₦250 million ($190,000) for allegedly operating its consumer product Zap by Paystack as a wallet in violation of its regulatory licence. The CBN claimed Zap functions as a deposit-taking product reserved for institutions with microfinance or banking licenses, while Paystack holds only a switching and processing licence.
In April 2025, CEO Luis von Ahn issued a company memo announcing Duolingo would 'gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.' The policy stated that 'headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work' and that AI would be used in hiring and performance reviews. Von Ahn stated they would 'rather move with urgency and take occasional small hits on quality than move slowly.' The announcement sparked user backlash including mass app deletions on TikTok.
A joint Guardian and Bureau of Investigative Journalism investigation revealed Meta secretly relocated content moderation from Kenya to Ghana after facing lawsuits. Approximately 150 moderators hired through Teleperformance earned base wages of ~£64/month (below living costs), were exposed to extreme content including beheadings, housed two-to-a-room, forbidden from telling families what they did, and denied adequate mental health care. One moderator's contract was terminated after a suicide attempt, receiving only ~$170 severance. Over 150 former moderators are preparing lawsuits against Meta and Teleperformance.
In April 2025, acting US Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. sent a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation alleging Wikipedia 'allows foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda,' demanding documents to assess compliance with tax-exempt status requirements under Section 501(c)(3). The letter requested materials from January 2021 onward covering content moderation practices, editor misconduct handling, and interactions with search engines and AI companies. Separately, in May 2025, a bipartisan group of 23 US Representatives led by Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Don Bacon sent a letter expressing concern about antisemitism and anti-Israel bias on Wikipedia. These actions represented escalating political pressure on the Foundation's editorial independence.
On April 24, 2025, the Reserve Bank of India revoked Paytm Payments Bank's license, citing affairs conducted 'detrimental to the interest of depositors' and a 'consistent pattern of non-adherence to regulatory norms' despite multiple prior warnings. The action followed earlier restrictions banning new deposits and users. The regulatory action sent shockwaves through India's fintech sector.
The European Commission found Apple breached its anti-steering obligation under the Digital Markets Act by imposing restrictions that prevent app developers from fully benefiting from alternative distribution channels outside the App Store. Apple's practices were found to limit competition and consumer choice in the app ecosystem.
C.C. Wei committed TSMC to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) with goals of 100% renewable energy by 2040 (accelerated from 2050) and net-zero emissions by 2050. Wei stated: 'TSMC works closely with our supply chain partners and stakeholders to advance green initiatives and develop innovative energy-saving and carbon reduction technologies.'
TSMC announced formal SBTi commitment April 2025 with roadmap: peak emissions 2025, reduce to 2020 levels by 2030 with RE60 (60% renewable energy), achieve RE100 by 2040 (accelerated from 2050 after NGO pressure), net-zero by 2050. Launched GREEN Agreement requiring 50+ suppliers (90% of supply chain emissions) to reach 85% renewable energy in Taiwan and 100% overseas by 2030. 22 consecutive years in Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
The European Commission issued its first-ever Digital Markets Act fine, finding Meta's 'consent or pay' model violated DMA obligations to give consumers a choice of service using less personal data. Meta offered EU users of Facebook and Instagram only a binary choice between consenting to full data combination for personalized ads or paying a subscription. Internal documents revealed the model 'was never intended to comply' with the DMA, with Meta's own estimates predicting below 1% subscription uptake. The violation period ran from March to November 2024.
Paul Graham publicly criticized Palantir Technologies over its $30 million ImmigrationOS contract with ICE, urging programmers not to work for 'the company building the infrastructure of the police state.' He pressed a Palantir executive to commit not to build things that help the government violate the US constitution.
Attorney General filed lawsuit alleging Discord's flawed age verification allows children under 13 to bypass requirements, and that even with safety filters enabled, children were exposed to CSAM and predators.
In April 2025, former Y Combinator president Geoff Ralston launched the Safe Artificial Intelligence Fund (SAIF), specifically seeking startups that enhance AI safety, security, and responsible deployment. The fund writes $100,000 checks as SAFE notes with a $10M cap. Ralston explicitly stated he would not back fully autonomous weapons, saying 'There are certainly uses of AI which would (will) be unsafe: using the technology to create bioweapons, to manage conventional weapons without a human in the loop.' Additionally, YC has funded 152+ open source startups including Ollama (105K+ GitHub stars).
In 2025, Intel dramatically reduced its DEI language in corporate reports and removed diversity targets from SEC 10-K filings. This represented a major rollback from 2020 goals including achieving 40% women in technical roles and doubling women/underrepresented minorities in senior leadership by 2030. Intel had previously stated 'Diversity, equity, and inclusion have long been Intel's core values and are instrumental to driving innovation and delivering strong business growth.'
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by monopolizing markets for publisher ad servers (~90% share) and ad exchanges (~50% share), and violated Section 1 by illegally tying its products together. This was Google's second major antitrust loss, separate from the August 2024 search monopoly ruling. The DOJ sought divestiture of Google's ad exchange (AdX) and publisher ad server (DFP). Remedies trial scheduled for September 2025.
Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Apple 'willfully' failed to comply with previous injunctions in the Epic Games case. The judge found that Apple executives had lied and knowingly took an anti-competitive route to demonstrate compliance. She extended injunctions to prevent Apple from collecting fees from third-party storefronts and referred the case to the federal attorney's office for possible criminal contempt proceedings.
Patrick Collison appointed to Meta's board effective April 15, 2025. Appointment came as Meta rolled back fact-checking and DEI programs, donated $1M to Trump's inauguration, and settled lawsuit with Trump for $25M. Collison joins alongside Dina Powell McCormick, a former Trump advisor.
In April 2025, Anthropic published a threat intelligence report detailing multiple misuse cases of Claude detected in March 2025. The report documented: an 'influence-as-a-service' operation orchestrating over 100 coordinated social media bots; credential scraping and stuffing attempts targeting security camera systems; a recruitment fraud campaign targeting Eastern Europe; and a novice actor developing sophisticated malware. The proactive detection and transparent public disclosure demonstrated responsible AI safety monitoring and commitment to preventing harm.
In April 2025, New York state fined Block Inc. $40 million for anti-money laundering inadequacies and cryptocurrency compliance failures on its Cash App platform. The investigation found weak AML practices and inadequate monitoring of suspicious Bitcoin transactions. Block also separately agreed to pay $80 million to other state regulators for similar compliance deficiencies.